Legal

Fair housing

This page is in English only.

Not legal advice. These terms describe how this venue works. A lawyer where you live should review anything that binds you.

1. National standard. Bunklow is an advertising venue for the United States. The federal Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 to 3619) and HUD’s discriminatory advertising rule (24 C.F.R. § 100.75) apply to dwelling ads everywhere we operate. State and city laws may be stricter. We follow the stricter rule, not the looser one. This is not legal advice.
2. Protected classes we never offer as filters: race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, disability (federal), plus any extra classes your state adds. Coded lines such as “perfect for a single professional,” “no wheelchairs,” or “Christian household” on a dwelling ad are treated as advertising problems and may be queued.
3. If someone is living in the unit and looking for a person to share the expenses, they are a roommate. That is the test. It does not matter how many bedrooms the place has. An owner who lives there, and a tenant who already lives there, are both this path. Washington RCW 49.60.222(7) and Fair Housing Council v. Roommate.com, 666 F.3d 1216 (9th Cir. 2012), are the public sources for why sharing the home you live in is not treated as renting out a separate place. The federal case is not a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Race and color still have no exemption. On the Roommates board a person may say whether they hope to live with women or men. Race, color, national origin, religion, and disability stay blocked. Bunklow is an advertising board. Renters can choose to share a profile they wrote about themselves. Bunklow does not run reports, score, rank, rate or approve anyone, and does not make rental decisions. Owners make their own decisions.
4. Renting by the room. The person owns the dwelling, or otherwise has the right to rent it, and rents it by the room. The number of bedrooms does not decide the path. One room or several, the situation is the same: the owner is the landlord of each room, and it is not a roommate situation. A house, condo, townhome, apartment, or a unit in a duplex, triplex, fourplex, or larger building follows the same dwelling-ad rules when it is rented as a place, not shared as a household the poster lives in. No protected class line in the ad. The owner may screen, with the same written criteria for every applicant. They may not ask about race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. Washington adds marital status, sexual orientation, creed, citizenship or immigration status, and honorably discharged veteran or military status (RCW 49.60.222). A service animal is not a pet. A blanket ban on any criminal record is a known fair-housing problem. The roommate limit in RCW 49.60.222(7) does not apply when the owner does not live in that dwelling.
5. A by-the-room rental is still a residential rental where the landlord-tenant law applies, including a room in a house, unless the stay is transient lodging. Habitability, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, the written agreement, deposits, notice, and how many people the building code allows in that house are the owner's duties. A stay under 30 days can be lodging, with a local license and tax, and that is not this board deciding it is a tenancy. If they use their own lease, they are responsible for it. Bunklow did not write or review it and does not inspect. Bunklow does not run reports, score, rank, rate or approve anyone, and does not make rental decisions. See Your own papers.
6. Mrs. Murphy (42 U.S.C. § 3603(b)(2)) is a narrow owner-occupied exemption. Bunklow does not decide if you qualify. Do not use this board to discriminate in the rental of a dwelling.
7. Disability. Service animals are not pets. A “no pets” listing does not cancel a reasonable-accommodation request under the FHA / ADA. Write us if you need an accommodation to use this site (WCAG 2.1 AA is the target).
8. To report housing discrimination: HUD, hud.gov/fairhousing, 1-800-669-9777. Then your state civil-rights agency and city office (examples: Washington State Human Rights Commission; Seattle Office for Civil Rights). On this board: Report on the listing, or Write us (info@bunklow.com). We review and may remove a post upon notice. We do not promise a 48-hour clock.